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Shinjuku

Update: This business has ceased its operations.

Shinjuku (新宿) is a small Japanese restaurant in Sungai Nibong, facing the overpass leading to Queensbay Mall. Although the restaurant mainly caters for delivery and take-away customers, it still has a small dining area for customers who prefer to eat-in.

Despite the run-down shop facade, the interior is a totally different world. At the cashier counter, a row of Maneki Neko (招き猫) or "welcoming cats" greet us as we walk in.

Once we are seated and while waiting for our food, we are served with Green Tea (お茶) and Miso Soup (味噌汁). The Miso Soup is literally just soup; there are no other ingredients such as bean curd.

Due to the fact that most food are for take-away or delivery customers, the menu is mostly in the form of bento (弁当) sets. This allows easy preparation, packing and transportation.

The Chiki Chiki Banban (チキチキバンバン, RM13.80) highlights the karaage Japanese cooking method. The coating used in karaage dishes is a mix of potato starch and wheat flour. The coated bite-size chicken is then deep-fried in oil, similar to tempura (天ぷら). When done, the coating forms a crispy layer which flakes off easily.

The bento is served with rice, mayonnaise salad, grated daikon (ダイコン) and watermelon.

Next is the Chicken Katsu Don (鶏肉カツ丼, RM12.80), is a type of donburi dish. This is a plain rice dish served in a rice bowl, with other ingredients placed and simmered over the rice. The ingredients used here are primarily chicken, eggs and onions.

Moving on to something more familiar locally: Garlic Fried Rice (ガーリックチャーハン, RM8.80). Some Japanese restaurants are able to produce a strong garlic aroma and flavor to this dish. Unfortunately, Shinjuku is not up to this standard.

The side dishes are mayonnaise salad, grated daikon, takuan (沢庵) and watermelon.

Overall, the food here is reasonable in terms of taste, but one should not have too high expectations. After all, this restaurant is meant to cater for the economical niche market.